


Mutual Misery II

by SidneyJane



Series: Mutual Misery [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Heart-to-Heart, Hogwarts, M/M, Potions Master Draco Malfoy, Professor Draco Malfoy, Professor Harry Potter, Tea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 08:17:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16489004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SidneyJane/pseuds/SidneyJane
Summary: Harry drinks tea and has a heart to heart with a familiar face.





	Mutual Misery II

**Author's Note:**

> A continuation of Mutual Misery I.  
> Please feel free to leave a Kudos or Comment - I'd love to know what you think.

Harry awoke violently once more. A small house elf that he had never seen before stood next to where he lay, eyes wide with shock or fear and removed her hand from Harry’s shoulder – clearly she had shaken him awake.

“Mr Potter,” she said, timidly, “Mr Potter are you okay?”

Harry looked around the room briefly, he was indeed still at Hogwarts. His nightmares didn’t usually affect him here.

“Hi, yes I am, thank you.” He replied, his voice still raspy from sleep. He wasn’t okay though, he had been having another nightmare, this time about the final confrontation with Voldemort that had happened in the courtyard outside.

“Sorry to wake you Mr. Potter,” the house elf smiled slightly at him, “but you were shouting in your sleep sir.”

Harry nodded at her, and was going to say something but she disapparated before he could. He sat up on his settee, covering himself with the blanket, and tried to calm his thoughts. He wiped the sweat from his face and neck and unclenched his hands. He examined his palms in the dying light of his fire and saw that his fists had been balled up so tight that he had cut his palms.

He checked his watch, it was still the middle of the night. He glanced out of his window into the murky dark sky and sighed to himself. When would he ever get a grip on his sleep, would he ever be able to have a peaceful night?

He climbed into his bed, pulled his blankets over him and lay awake. He stared at the ceiling, musing over the day to come. He had three classes to teach, and with his spare time he would be in his office, he supposed, as always. He let his mind wander to the times when he used to go to The Three Broomsticks with Ron and Hermione and let himself entertain the idea of possibly going tomorrow. He looked over to the small bedside table next to him and opened the drawer. His faded marauders map sat there, fairly unused.

Harry smiled to himself, and pulled out his wand. He had not looked at the map in months, but it always brought him an odd sense of comfort.

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” He tapped the parchment with his wand and watched the inky red writing dance across it.

He opened it, and sure enough, there were students out of bed, roaming the corridors. He watched students of his run through the stairwells together, probably looking for a place to have a forbidden tryst. He felt a wave of sadness as he thought about his own loneliness, and how it was out of choice. He longed for companionship of some kind – even just a close friend.

He scanned the pages and stopped when he saw Malfoy in his office, pacing back and forth in a manner that reminded him of Dumbledore’s own behaviour. Malfoy was awake too. He toyed with the idea of going to see him purely because he was somebody that was also awake at this hour, but he noticed that there was someone else in the room with him – Esmerelda.

Harry sighed, “Mischief managed.”

***

After a particularly loud third year class, Harry had the rest of his day off. He sat at his desk at the front of his classroom, massaging his temples, and looking at a stack of textbooks to put away. He looked at his wand, wondering whether or not to use magic to clear up but decided not to. He still did many muggle things, it was after all, what he had been used to for so long.

There was a soft knock at his door, and someone cleared their throat.

Harry put the stack of books on his bookshelf and looked to the door. It was Malfoy of all people.

“Oh,” Harry exclaimed softly, “Malfoy. Hello.” He was shocked to see him here, to say the least.

“Potter, are you busy?” He looked around the classroom and when he saw that Harry was alone he stepped further into the classroom.

Harry shook his head and motioned for Malfoy to come in.

Malfoy walked over to Harry’s desk and leaned against it. He was wearing the same heavy, expensive looking cloak as yesterday, with the charmed snake, and a sharp black and Slytherin green checked suit underneath. He sighed softly and looked at Harry putting the books back individually.

“We do have wands you know, Potter?” He waved his wand and the books put themselves away, even the ones that had been in Harry’s hands.

“I know,” Harry shrugged, “but I also have hands that work just fine,” he smiled slightly as Malfoy rolled his eyes, “Can I help, Malfoy?”

Malfoy stood up, and ran a hand through his snowy hair, “I was wondering if you would like to go to Hogsmeade for a drink?” He spoke slowly. It felt to Harry like he was making a point to be an adult – extending an olive branch almost.

Harry was shocked. While he and Malfoy were on talking terms, he had not expected to have him as friendly company any time soon.

“I’m not really one to venture out anymore, Malfoy.” He said tentatively. He didn’t want to offend Malfoy, especially as he was being kind to Harry.

Malfoy sighed and rolled his eyes slightly, “Yes I know. Neither do I. People don’t really want to be around me much anymore.” He shot a knowing look at Harry, and crossed his arms. The snake on his cloak curled around him more.

Harry understood, it couldn’t have been easy for Malfoy – a former Death Eater – to go out without facing some kind of abuse. It wasn’t easy for Harry either, he would often get surrounded by people with good intentions but over powering actions.

“However, I can make tea in my office?” Harry offered, wondering if simple tea would be good enough for someone like Malfoy.

Surprise flashed across Malfoys face for a second, which then turned to relief, “That will do just fine.” He replied, and almost smiled at Harry.

Harry went up the stairs to his office, past the wall where portraits of Gilderoy Lockhart once hung, and held the door open for Malfoy.

Harry straightened out the blankets on his settee and moved one of his Gryffindor jumpers out of view. He wasn’t sure that he wanted Malfoy to see that he still had reminders of his school times hanging around.

Malfoy opted not for the settee, but for an armchair that was tucked away in a corner under a window. Harry went for the settee and turned, with his feet on the seat, to see Malfoy properly. A kettle boiled over the fire.

They sat in silence for a while, and it was surprisingly not awkward. Harry was finding himself pleasantly surprised at how Malfoy had matured personality wise.

“So how are you finding being back at Hogwarts?” Harry asked after some time, breaking Malfoys gaze from the window.

Malfoy took a deep breath, “It’s actually not as bad as I remember it being,” he smiled, “there’s a sense of nostalgia being in Snape’s old classroom again, though now of course I’m teaching. I imagine you have something of a similar experience being in Lupin’s old room?”

Harry smiled to himself, this was possibly the longest he had heard Malfoy speak directly to him before without cursing or hexing him in some way, “Yes,” he replied, “It is quite strange isn’t it?”

“I’ve not been back to Hogsmeade since we were students,” Malfoy mused, “Is it largely the same?”

Harry sighed, “Yes, it’s largely the same. Neville and Hannah Abbot got married a few years back and Hannah is the landlady at The Three Broomsticks now. Madam Puddifoot’s has gone, thank the lord, and it’s now a little café of some kind, I believe.” Malfoy nodded and looked out the window.

“I don’t think I’d be too welcome in The Three Broomsticks anymore,” He traced the flight of a bird with his finger on the glass of the window, “not after everything that happened there.”

Harry understood, though with Hannah being the landlady there he didn’t think it would be an issue, “That was years ago though, Malfoy, I doubt that it would be held against you now.” The kettle boiled and Harry turned, summoning his tea set to him. He put his wand away and poured the water into a teapot, swirling the tea leaves around inside.

He set the teapot down on the table with a soft clink, and waited for it to brew.

Malfoy turned and stared intently at the teapot, “perhaps,” he said, “perhaps people would be okay with my being around.” He stood gracefully, took off his heavy cloak, the snake hissing as it was unclasped, and walked over to the fireplace. His black and green suit fit him well, and was clearly as expensive as the rest of his items.

Harry poured the tea into the teacups, and handed a cup to Malfoy. He smiled at Harry and thanked him. They drank their tea in relative silence, maybe passing the odd comment about the quality of the tea leaves, or the heat from the fire.

“If you don’t mind my asking,” Harry said quietly, “Why are you suddenly at Hogwarts?”

Malfoy raised an eyebrow and put his cup onto his saucer clearly preparing to answer Harry, “I have a potions shop in Diagon Alley, and it’s doing quite well. I no longer have to be there all the time to make sure it’s alright, something that I’m sure my patrons are happy about. No one wants to hang around a former death eater,” he looked at Harry as Harry began to protest but carried on regardless, “and I saw the posting for here and couldn’t think of a single reason to not take it,” He took a sip of his tea and then carried on, “I had heard, of course, that you taught here now as well as Neville and I thought it might do me some good to be around familiar faces again.”

Harry nodded, it seemed like Malfoy had done quite well for himself. It made Harry happy to hear that Malfoy was no longer under anybody’s thumb, but it also made him highly aware of his own stagnating life. He had been teaching at Hogwarts for ten years now, he had never done anything else, and he was beginning to long for a fuller life again – friends, family, pets, excitement. He almost came to regret secluding himself from the world. Mayhap there could be a life out there for him yet.

“Do you keep in touch with Weasley and Granger?” Malfoy asked, dragging Harry out of his depressing reverie.

“I do, we write a lot of letters,” Harry sighed, “It’s difficult to see them, they’re always so busy.”

The sound of students filing out of classes could be heard in the corridor past the classroom, and Malfoy checked the clock on the wall. It seemed they still had some time to chat.

 “I barely see anyone from Hogwarts now,” Malfoy said, “Well, until I got this job, I suppose.” He flashed a smile at Harry.

Harry nodded, “I haven’t been doing much,” he said, and put his empty teacup on the table, “I’ve not really wanted to these last few years.”

“It did seem like all of a sudden your name stopped appearing in the papers. What happened?” Malfoy asked. It sounded like Malfoy had been checking up on Harry over the years.

“I guess I got sick of people coming up to me all the time,” Harry’s voice broke slightly, betraying his emotions, “It sounds awful, but I just wanted everything to quieten down but I can’t even go for a casual drink unless its in a muggle bar. Every now and again I’ll bump into a witch or wizard that knows who I am and I feel so suffocated. I never wanted any of this,” Harry turned to look at Malfoy who was listening quietly, he seemed genuinely concerned, as if the mask had slipped for a second or two, “you know, I don’t really do anything anymore. I couldn’t tell you the last time I went to Diagon Alley and looked at brooms, or wondered around Flourish and Blotts. I get Kreacher to do a lot of stuff for me, or I just don’t do it at all.”

Malfoy shifted in his seat slightly, “I get it,” his voice was low and quiet, he rested his elbows on his knees and looked down at the floor, “I used to get all sorts thrown at the Manor after father and mother were sent to Azkaban. I couldn’t leave without someone trying to hurt me or shouting vile things at me in the street. I used some of my savings to set up the shop, but for months I only had a little bit of business. I knew that it wasn’t because of my products and potions, but because of who I was, because of the things I’d been made to do. It was awful, Harry, people wouldn’t give me time of day.”

Harrys head shot up when he heard his name. It was so unusual for Malfoy to call him by his first name.

“I still get nightmares.” Harry said, plainly. It seemed that as they were talking in earnest now, and he thought that he had figured out why Malfoy had come to him – they had a shared experience that they could get off their chest.

Malfoy nodded, “I’m hardly surprised,” he looked at Harry, “You went through a lot doing what you did.”

They sat quietly for a bit, the fire crackled away, and rain began to patter down the window. Every now and again the charmed snake would hiss on Malfoys cloak and Malfoy would smile slightly at it, clearly proud of his charm work. Harry stared into the fire, quite unable to fathom that he and Malfoy were having a conversation – a true, meaningful conversation and not getting on each other’s nerves. Harry was somewhat shocked that of all the people he had told his feelings to it was Malfoy, but he appreciated his efforts in trying to create a friendship where there had only been animosity for years.

More students filed out into the corridor and Malfoy checked the clock again, “Time for me to head to my next class,” he sighed, and pulled his cloak around him, “but I appreciate the talk, thank you for the tea.” He left Harry’s office and just like that there was silence.

Harry had missed having someone to talk to in person every day and he realised just how lonely he had become.

***


End file.
